Resource Tracking
The Latest:
Learn more about the major findings of this report and discuss the implications of possible declining investments in HIV treatment R&D with funders and activists around the globe during an interactive webinar on March 15 at 9am (EDT).
Please RSVP by March 13 to for this event.
In 2009, Treatment Action Group (TAG) partnered with AVAC to collect baseline data on investments in HIV treatment research and development (R&D). These data provided an understanding of key funding streams in HIV treatment R&D and pointed at opportunities for further investment. Advances in HIV treatment science in 2010 and 2011 saw improvement in treatment regimens and strategies and reinvigorated optimism for finding a cure. In 2012, TAG and AVAC, with financial support from UNAIDS, put forth a collaborative effort to analyze trends in HIV treatment R&D investment in 2010 and 2011 to highlight gaps and encourage support in areas where it is most needed.
From 171 surveyed institutions, 41 funders reported investment in HIV treatment R&D in 2011 for a total of $2.6 billion. While more funders were identified in the 2009 survey (46), growth in investment was observed through both 2010 and 2011 with fewer funders reporting—34 in 2010 and 41 in 2011. This growth was due to actual funding increases from specific funders and to reports received from two large U.S. public-sector funders, whose data was not collected in 2009.
Also available:
Investing to End the AIDS Epidemic: A New Era for HIV Prevention Research and Development
The report shows that in 2011 funders invested a total of US$1.24 billion in research and development (R&D) for six key prevention options: preventive HIV vaccines, microbicides, PrEP using antiretroviral drugs, vertical transmission, treatment as prevention and operations research related to voluntary medical male circumcision. This investment is down slightly from the US$1.27 billion invested in 2010 for research into these six prevention options.
The report also looks back at a decade of tremendous growth in funding. The stability in funding is encouraging, given the continuing effect of the global recession on public sector economies. Yet the authors note that capitalizing on recent breakthroughs in the field, and ensuring a pipeline of new next-generation products, will require sustained and flexible investments from a range of donors in the coming years. While some European funders increased their investments in 2011, overall European funding lags more than 40 percent beneath its peak a few years ago.
The report, graphics, PowerPoints and one-pager summaries are available at www.hivresourcetracking.org.
A guide from an AIDS 2012 session, "Know Your Resources: How to use funding data to strengthen your messages in the critical push for investing in the end of AIDS" is available.
Capitalizing on Scientific Progress: Investment in HIV Prevention R&D in 2010
The report tracks the public, philanthropic and commercial investment in biomedical HIV prevention in 2010 including preventive and therapeutic HIV vaccines, microbicides, oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), adult male circumcision, treatment as prevention, prevention of vertical transmission, HSV-2 suppression and prevention, and the female condom.
Given the global funding environment, the Working Group was surprised to find that overall investment in HIV prevention R&D had actually increased, with the modest exception of a 1 percent decline in vaccine R&D. HIV vaccines continued to receive the majority of funding, with a total of US$859 million. Investment in microbicides was US$247 million, an increase of 5 percent from 2009 levels. Funding for PrEP increased by 12 percent over 2009 levels to US$58 million.
An Exploratory Analysis of HIV Treatment Research and Development Investments in 2009
To measure progress and assess whether funding levels are adequate and properly invested in the most promising science, the Treatment Action Group and AVAC sought to document the world’s investment in developing new or enhancing existing HIV therapeutic regimens and strategies by examining R&D spending and establish an investment baseline, starting with the year 2009.
The report, An Exploratory Analysis of HIV Treatment Research and Development Investments in 2009, found that 48 funders worldwide (of 144 surveyed) reported investing $US 2.46 billion across six HIV-related research categories—basic science, drug discovery and development, operational and implementation science, antiretroviral prevention, applied/infrastructure and HIV diagnostics.